Shower head



J. vs. JUDELL SHOWER HEAD Jun 20, 1944.

Filed March 27. 1945 2E SS SSE@ INV NTOR,

Y A TTORNEYS.

Patented June 20, 1944 S PAT sHowEn HEAD Julius S. Judell, Shorewood, Wis., assgnor to Milwaukee Flush Valve Company,l Milwaukee, Wis., arcorporation of Wisconsin v Application March 27, 1943, Serial No. 480,730

1 claim; (c1. 299-14n 'I he present invention relates in general to improvements in sprayproducing devices, and relates more specifically to improvements in the construction and operation of shower heads or the like.

' Generally defined, an object of the invention is to provide an improved shower head assemblage which is simple and compact in construction, and which is also highly efficient in operation.A

Many different types of shower heads or nozzles for shower bath installations, have heretofore been proposed and extensively used; and while some of these prior4 spray producers have been comparatively successful and satisfactory in operation, present restrictions and curtailments as to the use of metals and other normally available materials, has made it 'quite impossible' for manufacturers to producethese prior metallic spray heads. Aside from these manufacturing restrictions, most of the better functioning prior shower spray heads were relatively complicated in structure thus making them rather costly and also quite dim-cult to dismantle for cleaning purposes. ASome of the prior spray nozzles would also function well for a while, but some of the jet orifices would soon clog thus resulting in the production of uneven spray; and others could not be readily constructed so as to produce sprays meeting various standard specifications and requirements.

It is therefore a more specific object of my present invention vto provide a new and useful shower spray head which besides being extremely simple in structurev and effective in use, may be manufactured from moreavailable materials, and may also be readily cleaned and maintained in'most eicient operating condition.

Another specific object of the invention is to provideY a compact and durable spray nozzle adapted to be .manufactured in different sizes so as to meet various standard specifications and at exceedingly moderate cost.

Still another specific object of this invention is to provide an improved plumbing fixture which may be quickly and conveniently converted from a spray producerinto a more or less solid jet spout, or vice versa. 7 v A These and other specific objects and advantages of the invention willbe apparent from the following detailed description. Y

A clear conception of the several features constituting my present improvement, and of the mode. of constructing and ofoperating several types of shower heads embodying the invention,

lsection having been taken along the vertical central plane thereof; Y 1

Fig. 2 is a top view of the spray head of Fig. 1,

looking through the liquid `supply pipe thereof, which is shown in section;

q Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the sprayhead of Figs. 1 and 2; and

Fig. 4 is apart sectional side elevation of vay bath installations, it is not my desire or intent to thereby unnecessarily restrict the invention or limit its application.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive of the drawing, the improvedgshower head assemblage shown therein comprises in general, an outer annular casing 8 having a central bore 9 provided at one end with internal screw Vthreads II), .and at its opposite end with an outwardly diverging frustroconical portion or taper II; and a peripherally notched or radially grooved plug I2 having a similarly diverging frustro-conical or tapered peripheral surface I3 adapted to snugly lit the casing taper II, and being provided with a central integral button projection I4 extending outwardly beyond the tapered .bore of the casing 8.A

- The screw threads Iwhich are located at :the inlet end of the central bore 9 of the casing 8, serve as a means vof attaching the casing to a liquid supply pipe' I5, and this pipe I5 may be provided with the usual swing joint for permitting universal adjustment of the sprayhead, and with a liquid control valve for regulating the deliveryof liquid to the casing bore Y9. In Aorder to facilitate attachment of the casing 8 to the threaded end of the pipe I5, thev medial outer portion ofthe casing 8 may be provided` with a hexagonal or otherwise polygonal portion I6. The tapered outlet portion II of the casing 8 which is located inaxial alinement with the bore 9 and with the threaded inlet :portion Ill, should be accurately and smoothly bored; andthe similarly tapered router surface .I3. of thel groot/edy plug I2 should be formed to snugly' and frictionally engage the taper .II "so that liquid flowing through the nozzle will automatically seat the plug 4I2 but the projecting buttonk I4 may be pressed upwardly at any timevso as to unseat the same. v

The exterior of the spray producing plug I 2. is provided with a multiplicity of equally spaced radial slots or grooves II the bottoms of all of which lie in a frustro-conical surface I8 which is divervgingly tapered to conform with-the direction of delivery of the jet I9fas shown in Fig. 1; and thefrcenter 20 of--the plug- Ilii'nay be bored E' orrece'ssed andy providedwith' a series of aux-` improvement has-.been shown and noted that the spray head of Figs. 1, 2 and 3 comprises only two relatively simple and readily ccnstructable parts. A, l l

While the simplified sprayj` head assemblage of Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive is entirely suitable and,

satisfactory for ordinary shower use, it is sometimes desirable especially in' connection with plumbing fixtures such as ycovered by my` prior Patents Nos. 2,011,446 and 2,024,930, to be able to convert the nozzle fitting from a spray head into a jet spout, and vice versa; and in Fig. 4 I have shown a relatively simple and compact assemblage for effecting such conversion. In this modified assemblage, the convertible sprayspout fitting again comprises an annular main casing 8f having a central bore 9 provided at its inlet end with screw threads I adapted for attachment to a liquid supply pipe I5, and having a convergingoutlet end taper II at its op-4 posite end; and a tapered plug I2 provided with a similarly converging tapered peripheral surface I3 fitting the taper II, and having therein a multiplicity of radial slots or grooves I'I terminating in a divergingly tapered surface I8. In the assemblage of ,'Fig. 4, vthe modified casing 8' is additionally provided with a pair of diametrically opposite slots 22 and with external screw threads 23 and an annular groove 24 in the polygonal portion I6 radially outward from the slots 22; and the modified plug I2 has a convergingly tapered push button I4' and is additionally provided with a central stem 25 having a transverse opening for receiving a pin 26 which extends through and beyond, and is slidable along the opposed slots 22. An adjusting collar 2'I is provided with an annular medial abutment surface 2B adapted to coact with the projecting outer ends'of the pin 26, and has internal screw threads at one end adapted for vcoaction with the external threads'23 of the casing 8', and also hasan annular opposite end 2S which is slidable within the casing groove 24.

This modified convertible fitting is lobviously so formed and constructed that when the part-s are assembled rand disposed as shown inFig. 4, liquid delivered from the pipe -I to the bore will be delivered in the formof an annular spray jet I9 the same as in Fig. 1; but when the collar 2l is rotated so as to cause the abutment surface 28 to engage the ends of the lpin v26 and to thereby lift the plug periphery I3 away from the tapered `bore Il, an annular discharge orifice will be produced and'. the liquid-will be more freely delivered from the nozzle in theform'of a'solid annular jet whichl will merge intov a relatively solid cylindrical jet beyond the smaller end of thebuttonlk; 1 I' During normal use and operation of the. improved sprayl head, and assuming the parts of the device illustratedv in Fig..4 to be positioned as shown therein, the;casing,8,8',maybe disposed in any desired position and liquid may be admitted to the upper inlet end of the casing in regulated quantities with the Vaid of an ordinary control valve `.in-the usual manner. The liquid adlnitted tothe bore V59 will be retarded fromlowing ,free-ly; through the outlet end of the tapered bore-II by the plug I2, I2' and will tend tolseat this plug firmly within the taper, II-thus providingv an annularfseries of; relatively small rectangular orifices at the outletend of the nozzle through which an annular series cf spray jets I9 will be projected. These jets will assume a direction substantially corresponding to the direction of extent of the diverging frustro-conical surface I8 of the plug I2, I2 and normally this annular spray jet should spread to a diameter of approximately two feet in a distance of six feet. Additional liquid may be delivered through the central recess 2 0 and orifices 2| of the plug I2, although the use of these orifices is not necessary. If for any reason some of the slots or grooves I-'I should become clogged the obstruction can be readily released by merely pushing against the button projection I4, I 4 and thus causing the plug 'to 'move Vaway from` the taper II and into the larger portionu of the bore 9.' Such displacement of the plug will permit Ythe liquid to momentarily flow in greaterabun-` dance around the periphery of the plug and will thereby permit obstructing particles to b e washedaway. When the liquid has been shut off, the grooved plug may also'be lifted away from its seating so as to permit convenient cleaning of the parts, but as soon as the liquid is again admitted vto the nozzle,the plug will be quickly seated and a spray jet will result. With the modified nozzle of Fig. 4, the plug I2 may also be readily lifted from its seating with the aid of the adjustable collar 21, and when thus lifted the plug will be permanently retracted from the tapered surface I I and a solid jet will result.

From the foregoing detailed description it will be apparent that my present invention provides an improved spray head which is extremely simple and compact in construction and which may be manufactured of any suitable material and at minimum cost. The improved assemblage besides being extremely simple may be quickly assembled without the use of tools, and has parts which are conveniently manipulable so as to eliminate obstructions and to effect cleaning. The improved nozzle assemblage may moreover be readily provided with simple and effective means for permitting conversion of the sprayintoa solid jet as shown in Fig. 4, and any slight leakage of liquid which may result when the modified nozzle` is in use, would not be objectionableV since such leakage would -be insignificant compared to the vliquid escaping past the central plug I2. The invention has proven highly successful in actual commercial use, and obviates practically all of the objectionable features which are inherent in many of the more complicated prior ,spray headv assemblages.

Itshould be understood that it is not desired to limit this invention to the exact details of construction or tothe precise mode of use,

- herein shown and described, for various modif ications within the scope of the claim may -occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

In va spray head, an annular casing havingv a liquid inlet at one end and a convergingly tapered outlet at its opposite end, and a similarly tapered peripherally grooved plug loosely fitting the taper of said casing outlet and pressed thereagainst only by the liquid admitted to saidcasing inlet, the peripheral grooves of said plug being` of uniform transverse width throughout their lengths but having larger cross-sectional area at their inletends than at the outlet ends thereof;` 

